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At 3:30, Yundi plays an F-sharp. He plays it at both repetitions too. Do you know what edition he's using? My Mikuli edition doesn't have that F-sharp. Which version is "official"? The F-sharp sounds better imo.

There is no single correct edition for Chopin. Most of his works have many variants, which derive from several different editions published during his lifetime (often with his personal input) and the autograph score, where it exists. Both with the F# and without are valid interpretations. I'm learning the 4th ballade at the moment and there's all sorts of areas like this.

Nope, it interests me. Obviously I have some strong opinions about which variants I prefer and why, but I think it's useful to be occasionally reminded that there isn't and can never be a single, truly definitive version of a piece of music.

First editions are not necessarily the most 'authentic'. They often contain engraving errors that are corrected in later editions, and Chopin himself is known to have been involved in the process of making subsequent editions of lots of pieces. The Ballade, for example, has three 'first' editions, French, German and English, and there are lots of differences between them.

Mark_C
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Registered: 11/11/09
Posts: 20323
Loc: New York

OK....I think I know.

Joe: Do you mean something about the LEFT HAND?

I assumed you meant about the melody. I checked Mikuli, and sure enough, there's an F# in the RIGHT hand. It looks like you didn't realize (or forgot) that there's an F# in the RH. That's what made it hard to understand what you were talking about. And really I'm not sure I understand it even now.

Mark_C
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Registered: 11/11/09
Posts: 20323
Loc: New York

Me2. Let's wait to find out what Joe meant.

Anyway: Looking at different editions, I see that there are differences in the left hand.

Edit: Be that as it may, I just learned something.

IMSLP has the Fontana manuscript -- and assuming that it's correct on this detail (and I'd have to guess it is), I've been playing it wrong forever, and so do many other people.

I've been re-striking the F# in the LH, sort of not realizing it's the same note that the RH had played previously as part of its octave, and that the note is tied over, not re-struck. (I've been re-striking it with the thumb of the LH.)

Maybe this is what Joe meant: Are you supposed to re-strike that F# in the bass?

I would rush to see what the Joseffy edition shows (because it's the main one I've used), but I'm in the middle of a move and my scores are nowhere to be found.

Paderewski edition FTW. Why bother with something riddled with mistakes when you can get a reliable source for which is an amalgamation of several editions done by (several in fact) experts in Chopin and also which list (most if not) all the possible other options in the comments section at the back?

currawong
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Registered: 05/15/07
Posts: 6058
Loc: Down Under

Rather than (or in addition to, if you like ) posting a youtube clip and saying "at 3.30...", could you please mention the bar number? Then those of us with slow and dodgy internet connections could simply look it up in the score. I'd really appreciate it.

Paderewski edition FTW. Why bother with something riddled with mistakes when you can get a reliable source for which is an amalgamation of several editions done by (several in fact) experts in Chopin and also which list (most if not) all the possible other options in the comments section at the back?

+1

PE also shows the LH F# is tied from previous measure playing with RH

currawong, it's M293 in question

_________________________
"In opera, there is always too much singing" -Debussy

Mark_C
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Registered: 11/11/09
Posts: 20323
Loc: New York

Originally Posted By: currawong

Rather than (or in addition to, if you like ) posting a youtube clip and saying "at 3.30...", could you please mention the bar number? Then those of us with slow and dodgy internet connections could simply look it up in the score. I'd really appreciate it.

I often do the same as he did because of not having immediate access to a score with measure numbers. Most scores don't have them.

Of course another way to achieve what you asked would be to post an image of that portion of the score, but I've never done that because despite several online 'tutorials' by our members, I've never been able to do it. I don't recall if Joe's done it or if he knows how.

Rather than (or in addition to, if you like ) posting a youtube clip and saying "at 3.30...", could you please mention the bar number? Then those of us with slow and dodgy internet connections could simply look it up in the score. I'd really appreciate it.

I often do the same as he did because of not having immediate access to a score with measure numbers. Most scores don't have them.

Of course another way to achieve what you asked would be to post an image of that portion of the score, but I've never done that because despite several online 'tutorials' by our members, I've never been able to do it. I don't recall if Joe's done it or if he knows how.